


The Assassin

by Loonywoif (Sunsinger)



Category: Once a Thief (TV), The X-Files
Genre: Angst, Light BDSM, M/M, Romance, Russian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-01-05
Updated: 2004-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-05 16:31:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12798219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunsinger/pseuds/Loonywoif
Summary: What if Alex was raised by Murphy and Camier (the Cleaners) from OaT?I know it seems incomplete but it is! Really... it is!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Haven, the archivist: This story was originally archived at [Fandom Haven Story Archive (FHSA)](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Fandom_Haven_Story_Archive), was scheduled to shut down at the end of 2016. To preserve the archive, I began working with the OTW to transfer the stories to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. If you are this creator and the work hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Fandom Haven Story Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/fhsa/profile).

The Assassin

 

Murphy smiled at his friend and partner, Camier, it was a wonderful chase. Lasted just long enough to be interesting without becoming tedious. Looking up at the J. Edgar Hoover Building, The Cleaners, entered finally at the end of their most particular chase. Opening the door, Camier waved their guests in.

 

* * *

 

Two hours earlier:

Mulder stood in the alley watching the two men. They had to be M and C, the ones who had asked to meet him here. The two men stood under the lights, apparently not afraid that Mulder would kill them from the shadows. Suddenly they raised their heads in tandem. One, with a long face and wearing a trench coat stepped towards Mulder, his cultured voice reached Mulder in the alley.

"Please Mr. Mulder, do come out. I would say I promise I won’t kill you but I can’t lie. Mr. M and myself do wish to talk to you. It will be based on our discussion that we determine whether it is in the best interest to kill you."

Mulder blinked rapidly and checked his gun, taking the safety off he walked over to the two under the streetlights. From the opposite direction came another person; as they walked closer Mulder saw it was Skinner. His ex-boss was dressed in dark pants with a maroon shirt. Mulder smiled, it looked as if Skinner had been clubbing.

Skinner gave no sign that he was surprised to see Mulder, he merely turned to the two men. "What is this about?"

"My dear Skinner, please, Mr. C and myself invited you here to talk about a mutual acquaintance, our protégé so to speak. Come let us sit down on the benches over there." Murphy led them over to the benches and sat neatly. Crossing his legs, he stared at the two of them. "It has been many years since we two were this close to you two." He sighed softly, "Hopefully we can rectify that. You see, we have a problem."

Camier turned his long face to them, "Yes, quite. Our young protégée has fallen in with you two. He thinks he’s hidden it from us but we can tell. The last one to go this way we had killed. But this one is special. He is a lovely young man. I had doubts at first that he would do well. But since then all our doubts had been laid rest... until now."

Murphy covered one of Camier’s hands with his own. "Unfortunately true... and what we have to discuss with you is the manner in which you treat our Alexei. He is like our son and our contract is soon up with the Consortium, it will be wonderful to go back to the Directorate, will it not?"

"Yes, Cam it will! But the manner in which you have treated our Alexei and will treat him in the future is what we need to discuss with you. Now what shall we do?"

 

* * *

 

Alex stood at the window. Outside the air was so cold; he could feel it through the glass when he laid his hand on the windowpane. Inside it was hot, he probably should have left the leather coat but it was part of him. He dumped the prosthetic in the dumpster. He watched as a car slowly circled the building and parked on the curb. The thought that they would get a ticket made him laugh, as if a ticket would bother them. They were good. They never would let that slip their mind. Head down Alex picked up the metallic briefcase. Inside were a massive amount of disks. Sitting it on the desk, he turned back to watch the street. The car was there and empty. He had hoped Skinner would find him in the office early tomorrow morning but it looked like Alexei Sascha Krycek was not going to be there to greet him. Alex leaned his head against the window; it was so cool, soothing his headache. A stubborn itching bothered his stump. Hearing the door open behind him, he took a deep breath.

"I’m tired, Murphy, Camier. So tired." Alex’s voice cracked, softly he continued. "I want out. I do. I know that they won’t let me. I knew they would send you after me. I left traces, I know. I got sloppy... is that why we shouldn’t love anyone but each other? We get sloppy? You and Cam trained me, Murph. Taught me to be the best killer I could be. You taught me to clean up behind myself. I always wanted to be your best and favorite student. I would love to say I was but I know it’s not true. Their mistake was to send me to destroy Skinner and Mulder. I tried but I couldn’t do it. I fell in love with them... different loves for each of them, but love the same. I know I disappointed you. Did you know that through everything I went through with Mulder and Skinner, I saw you? You two are so much in love. You are. So I thought someone could certainly love me. When they took me away from my family, when my parents sold me, you two took care of me. That’s why I never wanted to disappoint you.

"I hate the Consortium. I know most people hate their employers but I hate them for more personal reasons. I hate them because in trying to kill Mulder’s dream, they killed mine. The Consortium fueled my hate in making me implant those infernal machines in Walter, I sometimes called him ‘My Sergei’. I love his middle name. I had to kill him with those machines. I used them to stop his heart. I used them to kill him because if I didn’t make him fear me then they would put a bullet through his brain. He didn’t fear them when they killed his wife. He didn’t fear them when they killed Scully’s sister. He didn’t fear them when they destroyed things he loved. So I implanted small machines to wreak havoc on his system. He feared * _me_ * then. When he next saw me, those beautiful brown eyes looked at me with fear. He should never fear me but if he didn’t then I would have lost him forever.

"Right after I used the nanites to give him a heart attack, I visited him in the hospital. He was having a nightmare. His heart rate went up, he twisted in the sheets, he moaned as if trying to fight it off. I couldn’t take it... I sat down next to him. I stroked his face, caressed his forehead until he drifted off. He turned his head and nuzzled my hand. I lay down next to him and held him close to me. I wanted to wake up to him, Cam. I see you with Murphy. One time, we were waiting for some mark to be hit, he was tired. Murph curled up next to you and laid his head on your shoulder. Now, I’ve done that at times to both of you but then I was just a hitling, your baby, not like Murphy. You were tender with him. In a way, on that night, for a second, I hated you. You just showed me how wondrous love was.

"Mulder... hates me. He does. Sergei just wants me dead, but Fox hates me. He hates me for working for the Consortium even though I knew nothing else. He hates me for killing his father, even though Bill Mulder was not his father. Bill Mulder wasn’t even a good stepfather to him. He tortured Fox, made him think it was his fault that Samantha was taken. To do that to a child. But then for him to try to kill his own son. He knew if he ever told Fox what he knew, that the Consortium would kill Fox... and him. He didn’t care. So I killed him, I killed him to save Fox and Fox hates me. I mislead the Consortium and they killed the wrong sister, he hates me for not saving her. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t. Fox is so hard to please. Yet I keep trying.

"Skinner is much easier to please in a way. All I would have to do is live a life where I don’t have to kill. Mulder wants me to atone. I want to please them so much. I won’t kill for the Consortium anymore. That takes care of Skinner’s desire. I will serve my life in prison or take a death sentence, which you will fulfill. Can you tell them I managed to live 24 hours the way they wanted me to?

"The briefcase on the desk... it has all the information that I could steal from the Consortium’s computers, I was going to give it to them. Don’t think you would. Anyway, thanks Murphy, Camier. One more thing? Do you mind if I face you while you kill me? I don’t doubt that that’s what you are here for. I knew you would come. Since I decided to do this, I knew this would happen. Just like you had me kill Arsenault for falling in love. The difference is that it’s not a stranger or my brother killing me. It’s my fathers, the only two people, other than My Sergei and My Fox, which I love." Alex slowly turned, his feet slipping from under him, he was grabbed and held.

"Damn it, Krycek, you’re burning up. Walter, grab him." Fox cried.

"He’s got an infection, Fox. Kry- Alexei, don’t go to sleep. Alexei!"

"Sergei, Fox?" Alex slipped into the dark.

"ALEX!"

 

* * *

 

 

Warm. Being dead was Warm.

Made sense, since living was so cold. A hand brushed his hair back and a scent tickled his nose. A warm scent, musky, slightly smelling of bad cologne. A Mulderish scent. That too made sense ... no it didn't. Mulder isn't dead and if Mulder is here, he was either dead or somehow, someway, Alexei Sascha Krycek was in heaven. The first he had worked too hard to let happen, the other was an impossibility.

Moaning slightly, Alex opened his eyes. The room was dark. Light barely passed through the thick drapes on the window. Turning his head slightly caused a gasp to come from him and sharp pain lanced through his shoulder and up his neck. Grinding his teeth, he tried to sit up. Arms came around him and carefully lifted him.

"Well, Murphy should have known you weren't going to stay down, dear one. And you were never a disappointment to us. We didn't have you kill Arsenault for falling in love, we had you kill him because he was in love with a spy. Now rest. We just sent your two fellows to bed. Now, I know how much you hate to be put to sleep when you are sick, but I'm afraid we have no choice. Do not worry about it, Alexei, when you next wake, we won't be here but we will be watching you." Camier gently lowered Alex back to the bed. "Sleep, little boy, Sascha."

Alex felt a sharp prick in his neck and slowly closed his eyes. The sedative was powerful enough that he didn't hear Murphy come up. Murphy sat on the bed next to him; slowly he tried to lift his hand. Murphy took it and squeezed it, "Sleep, hitling, you will see us soon enough. Come, Camier, it's time to finish what our child started." Over his bed, Murphy took Camier's hand and walked out.

 

* * *

 

Mulder stumbled out the room where Murphy had taken them. The banging on the door was really getting on his nerves. As he tried not to trip over his own feet on the way to the door, he discovered a note.

> Remember what we talked about and take care of our Sascha. We contacted your friends, they should be here soon. The house is stocked well and all of Sascha's favorites are marked in the cookbook. For a while, this will be your home.
> 
> M&C

Mulder dropped the note on the table and walked over to the door. Looking through the peephole, he saw Frohike, Langley, and Byers. Stepping back, he looked around the room for a weapon when he realized he still felt the weight of his ankle holster on his ankle. Leaning down and pushing up the red and white striped pajama bottoms, he drew his gun.

"Minute." He drew the gun and flattened himself against the wall next to the door. Reaching across his body, he unlocked the door and threw it open, whirling around and pointing the gun at the Gunmen.

"Hey, Mulder, we're alone, just like you wanted. You said you had something for us."

"I didn't call you but I know who did. Get in. Byers lock the door."

"What's up with you, Mulder?" Langley brushed his lanky. dirty blond hair from his face.

"Alex."

"What does he want?" Byers asked quietly, locking the door.

"It's not what he wants, it's what the people who raised him want. All Alex wants is to come in from the cold. We found him in Walter's office. He's sick. An infection in the stump."

"And? Why do you want us here?"

"Because before he decided to come in from the cold, he downloaded everything he could onto the disks in that briefcase over there," Mulder waved towards the shiny metallic briefcase on a table. "It's all there, he left you a directory and instructions. You can bring down the Consortium. I know all I need to know. Now, I have to help Alex. We owe it to him. Don't ask why, just stay out here. If you need anything. Anything, the bathroom, something to drink, a gun, you call one of us. Don't leave this room." Mulder turned and walked away leaving the three men stunned.

Walking down the hall, he thought of what he and Walter had heard in the office. Pushing open the door, he sat on the bed and wrapped one arm around Alex's shoulders. "I'm sorry... I didn't think you were able to love, I didn't think you even had a heart. I'm so sorry." Mulder leaned down and kissed Alex's forehead.

 

* * *

 

 

Walter watched Fox, strange that after this they were all on first name basis; but maybe not so strange. He watched as Fox leaned over and kissed the forehead of the man they had both hunted, on and off, for the past seven years. Stepping in quietly, he pulled down the red and white-stripped top.

"Mulder..."

"You can call me Fox, if I can call you Sergei." Fox gave him a twisted smile.

"To you and to him, I will be Sergei, at least here at home." Walter sat on the other side of Alex, taking his hand. "Did it surprise you, Fox, to find out so much that we thought about him to be so wrong?"

"A bit... but then we knew that we didn't really know him. I... guess I always thought that he was like he was because if I had been in his place I would have done it for those reasons. I never thought he could have any other reason except to be a problem, to annoy me, to hamper me, to keep me from the truth. Those two slapped some sense into me. Did you just hear me? Me. Me! ME! Always I thought it was about me. About my being able to storm the gates and drag those dirty bastards into the light. And once I did... what? What would happen? Would Sam just show up and say, 'Been waiting for you big brother'? Would everything be ok? Would I go back to live with mom and dad and Sam? No. But I was so determined that I just ran over anyone who didn't help me. Ser..."

"Stop it Mulder!" Walter reached across Alex to take Fox's hand. Neither man noticed the dark green sliver focused on them from the bed. "Just stop. They did destroy your life. They killed almost everyone you loved. Many times, it was Alex who had to arrange it or carry it out. I read the same journals as you, Fox. I know you have a penchant to punish yourself. Don't. Right now we concentrate on getting Alexei better. He doesn't need this and neither do you."

Alex stared at the two men arguing over him. Slowly he built up saliva in his mouth and used it to moisturize his mouth. Breathing deeply, he quietly opened his eyes. "Murphy and Camier told me to sleep, which is hard to do when you two are being loud. Where are they?"

"Alex, you're awake." Mulder snatched his hand from Walter and hugged Alex tight.

"Yes, where is Camier, Murphy?" Alex demanded, turning his eyes toward Walter.

"They left, said they needed to 'finish what their child started'. Alex..."

"And they left me here with you? You expect me to believe that? What did you do to them?" Alex struggled to sit up. Grunting, he tried to shove Mulder up.

"Alex, stop. You were ill, they left you here with us."

"LET me go!!" Alex bucked up and tried to throw the two of them off.

" 'The difference is that it's not a stranger or my brother killing me. It's my fathers, the only two people, other than My Sergei and My Fox, which I love.' You said that Alexei, we were there. Murphy and Camier knew where you were all the time. They really love you. I'm jealous a bit." Fox smiled.

"Fox!" Walter brushed the too long dark hair back, "Alex, Fox and I both got letters from an 'M and C' who wanted to meet us. They said they knew you were tired, giving up. They told us, it was our fault." Walter leaned down and brushed his lips over Alex's head. "We didn't know. Alex... Alexei, we didn't know how much we hurt you, but we will find a way to make it up to you. Rest now. Trust us, we won't hurt you again. I don't think Murphy and Camier would let us."

Skinner carefully took Alex's hand between his two and kissed it, "I don't think we want to anymore."

 

* * *

 

 

"Well, then they called the Lone Gunmen, Fox got up to let them in, and came in to sit with you. That’s it." Walter finished, carefully using his nail to trace patterns on Alex’s hand.

"Rest, Alex. Sergei, let’s go make him something to eat, k? And you, rest." Mulder stood up and waited for Walter to get up. With a last smile, they walked to the kitchen.

 

* * *

 

Alexei watched as the two men stood up and walked out of the room. It seemed strange to him but then again, most things Murphy and Camier did seemed strange to him. He just has to trust them. Frowning, he shifted his body and reached for the phone. The table was just a bit too far, but he could do it... after all he is Alexei Sascha Krycek and Alexei Sascha Krycek does not give up. The thought made him stop. Alexei Sascha Krycek does not give up? But he had... he gave it up. He gave up the running, the hiding, everything. Alex lay on the bed, thinking about that. Enough was enough, he needed to talk to Murphy and Camier, because what Fox and Ser- Walter told him, can not be true.

Taking a deep breath and remembering what they taught him about pain management, Alexei rippled and inched his way closer to the phone. The three or four minutes it had taken him to get there exhausted him. Sweat ran down his face and dripped into his eyes. Shaking his head to get rid of the stinging, he tried to calm his heart down. He didn’t expect to be this tired or this weak... could they have told the truth... had he been sick or was he poisoned? There are several poisons that would do this to him but it didn’t make sense. Closing his eyes, he leaned forward and felt behind the headboard. It should still be there.

His hand closed around the small leather case. Using his hand, he carefully unsnapped the latch and caught the small six shot pistol. Trying not to groan, he pushed it under the pillow and moving his hand a little to the right, he unsnapped another small leather case and caught the small box of twelve bullets.

Smiling his crooked smile, he lay back. Damn but he should have known not to exert himself so much. His prosthetic was somewhere he couldn’t see. And the shoulder was hurting. He was feeling the fever every time he blinked. Every time he closed his eyes, the eyeballs burned under flaming lids. The sweat fell and stung his eyes. His mouth was dry and swallowing hurt. Every... single... breath... seared his lungs. Closing his eyes despite the fiery lids, he took a deep breath and imagined himself back in the snow, in Russia. Russia where he was born. Russia where he was happy with his mother until she died. Russia, the first place he met Murphy and Camier. Beautiful, white, cold, clean, crisp Russia.

 

* * *

 

 

Murphy walked into the room. It seemed that now that they had managed to graduated from merely second best to the best, they were to be saddled with more than a mere student. This one apparently was going to be their protege. Murphy looked around the room. The only person in that cold drafty room. In a corner sat a small boy, his dark and curly hair lay matted against his head. Knotted and oily, where it wasn’t stuck to his head, it hung limp. He was thin, so very thin and pale. His eyes seem way too large for his head. They stared out of emaciated face with bright green eyes. His lips were pale almost colorless and pinched thin. His hands had the skin stretched tight and the nails were all broken and chipped.

Murphy knelt down beside the boy and looked at him, "Do tell, what is your name?"

"Alexei." He whispered.

"Well what did you father call you?"

"Alexei." He repeated.

"What did your mother call you?"

"Sascha."

"Very well, Sascha. In a second, my partner, Camier, will join us. First though, aren’t you cold, Ale... Sascha?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, because now you are my and Camier’s child and our child will never go cold unless he wishes to or because he needs to." Murphy took off the warm coat he arrives wrapped in.

The dark brown and sable colors made the small boy’s face look like a corpse. So much so that when Camier came in, he wasn’t sure what Murphy was holding. It looked to him like a ghost or a possum. "Murphy, this place is sty. We won’t stay here tonight. Let’s take the child and go."

"Camier, his name is Sascha."

"Hello, Sascha." Camier came over and brushed the cape of the fur coat up onto Sascha’s head. "Don’t worry if you fall asleep, we are taking you somewhere safe. Far away and safe, Sascha. And you will never have to see him again."

"My father?"

"We are your fathers now, he’s nothing but your seller." Camier slammed the door open and bowed them through.

It was almost seventeen years before Alexei Sascha Krycek saw his seller again and that time, he put a bullet through each of his eyes.

 

* * *

 

 

Alexei shook his head and opened his eyes. He couldn't fall asleep, not now. Forcing his eyes open, he crawled slowly towards the phone. Carefully turning so he could rest against the headboard, he raised his leaden arm and picked up the phone. Placing it carefully between his whole shoulder and head, he reached over and slowly dialed fourteen digits. A tone whistled in his ear.

"Aloysha, Lexi, 622." The tone stopped and a quiet burring noise started. In less than ten seconds, a click revealed that the line was open.

"Sascha, I know you aren't up yet. Are you using your bedroom telephone?" Camier asked.

"Yes, father. I'm sorry; I'm a little... tired. Ummm... I woke up to find Mulder and Skinner sitting next to me. They told me an improbable tale that you two left me here with them. Except you wouldn't. Unless you were punishing me? Are you?" Alexei asked softly, lowering his voice.

Camier heard the small boy in his child's voice, "Sascha. You are in love with them. They care for you. I merely wanted to give you three some time to come to terms with your feelings." A crack of a fired bullet in the background, cut through the silence on the line. "Hold on, child." The sound of Camier placing the phone on the ground clattered. "Murphy, do hurry up and finish them off, Sascha is on the line."

"Yes, Darling." Murphy quickly dispatched the last two assignments and came over to take the phone out of Camier's hand. "Sascha, go back to sleep."

"Don't wanna." Alexei sulked.

"You will... don't make us come home right now... if you do, then it's obvious that they do not know how to take care of you and they will be punished." Murphy told his little boy.

Alexei pouted and made sure they could tell that he was pouting, "I just wanted to talk to you. I miss you. And I'm stuck here with Fox and Walter."

"Yes and they love you, but you are acting like a spoiled brat. I do wonder where you got that attitude from since you never learned it with us. Now, you will hang up, lay back down, put the gun and bullets back, and let them take care of you." Murphy sighed.

"What gun?"

"Alexei Krycek, I am not stupid, you have your six shot from behind the headboard. Put it back. I wish that I had instructed at least one of them in how to use a paddle. Enough, when you are well enough, you will be punished. Until then, let them take care of you and go to sleep."

"Yes, father." Alex moved the phone to the cradle when he heard his name called from the receiver. "Yes?"

"We love you, hitling. Behave."

"Ya vas tozhe liubliu, papy." He said and laid down. Pushing the gun and box of bullets under the pillow. As his head hit the pillow, Mulder came back in on his cell phone.

"Ok, Camier, got it." Smiling down at Alexei, he leaned over and pulled up the pillow and took the gun and the bullets. "Right under his pillow. Ok, later Camier." Mulder shut the phone and put the gun and bullets in the nightstand. "Do you want to move back to the center of the bed or do you want to stay here to eat? Oh, your father said ‘A nu teekho, malenkiyubiytsa'. What does it mean?"

"It means they love me." Mulder's hand felt cool on his head.

 

* * *

 

 

Sergei walked in carrying a bed tray. On it was a large red stoneware bowl of chicken soup, next to a half loaf of rye bread. Setting it over Alexei's legs, he leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Slipping onto the other side of Alexei he stared at him.

"Ok, who are you and what have you done to Walter Skinner?" Alexei asked as he stared at the soup and bread, "And what did you do with this food? What poison?"

"Trust us. I know you have no reason to but this time Alexei, trust us. Do you know how long you've been out? Your fever lasted for over a week. They refused to send you to the hospital; something about if you woke up in another one, they left that threat unfinished. We've had..." Sergei counted up the days in his mind. "This is the tenth day that we've had to get used to the fact that you do love us. That we should have listened to you more. They took time to make sure we understood you better. They gave us your journals, on the principle that it would be easier for them to ask your forgiveness than to ask for your permission. So Alexei Sasha Krycek, do you forgive us for reading your journals?" Sergei laid one hand on top of Alexei's knee.

Alexei looked at the hand and closed his eyes. "Yes. They wouldn't have done that unless they thought it was necessary. So they spank you yet?" Alexei smiled and picked up the spoon. A spoonful of soup in his mouth, he tried not to laugh at the stunned expressions on the two's faces.

"Alexei!" Fox snickered and tried to hold his laughter in.

"Alexei, there is one thing I always wondered about you. Why Sascha?"

"Wal- Sergei! It's his nickname. There is no whys for them." Fox leaned over and pinched Sergei on the arm.

"Fox! I know it's his nickname but Sascha is a nickname for Alexei. On his file, the one I read when he started in on the X-files, it says his name is Alex Sascha Krycek. Since it was indicated that he was Russian, most likely it really was Alexei Sascha Krycek. And that's unusual. It's like me being name Walter Wally or you Fox Foxy. It's redundant."

Alexei picked up the bowl and gently sipped it. Fox placed one hand beneath the bowl to make sure it wouldn't slip. Licking his lips, Alexei put it back down and dipped the bread into it and bit off a large chunk. "Well, when I was sold to the Consortium, they gave me over to Murphy and Camier. I first met Murphy and he asked me what my mother called me. I already knew that he wanted an answer and the Consortium already taught me to always give an answer. 'I don't know' is not an answer. But I don't know. My mother died when I was really young, or at least I think she's dead. I don't remember her being around me after age two or three. There was an old woman who took care of me; she died when I was about eight. That was about the time that He sold me to the Consortium. I don't know how long I stayed with them, but when Murphy asked me what my mother called me, I told him what she called me. Sascha. They decided to call me that too. I stayed at home with them for a couple of years, then I went to school. I was twelve and horribly shy. They had to register me for school and when the lady who was asking me questions asked me what my name was I said, 'Sascha Krycek'. She said according to my birth certificate it was Alexei, so I told her that was first name. She put my name down as Alexei Sascha Krycek. So that was it. Now a question for you... where did you get this recipe? It's almost as good as Camier's" Alexei spooned spoonful after spoonful of soup into his mouth. Rapping Fox's knuckle as he tried to steal a piece of chicken.

"It is Camier's. They left a few recipe books. A list of your favorite recipes, each of those recipes had little notes saying how you preferred it. For this one, it said dark meat only. So I bought a bunch of thighs."

Alexei stared at Sergei. Dropping the spoon into the bowl, he twisted slowly to avoid upsetting the food and caressed Sergei's forehead, right above the eyebrow. "Thank you."

"Welcome." Sergei reached over and took Fox's hand before leaning into Alexei's caress and closing his eyes.

 

* * *

 

 

Alexei leaned back against the pillows; his eyes already drifting closed. "Hmmm thank you, Walter."

"Sergei. For some reason Murphy and Camier insisted that I be called Sergei and you be called Sascha. They didn't know what Russian name to give to Fox. Said something about him needing one?"

"Ahhh, so that's what they are going to do with us... ok..." Alexei slipped back into his dreams.

 


	2. Chapter 1

 

Walter stared at Alexei asleep in the bed, turned on his side, his one hand clenched under his head. Fox pulled Alexei’s arm back and laid it over his stomach before tucking him in. Walter leaned down to kiss him lightly before picking up the bed tray.

"Fox, I’ll put this up and we can go talk to the Gunmen. All right?"

"Sure thing." Fox got up and held the door open for Walter. "Spakoyne noiche, Alexei." Fox looked at Walter to see if he said it right. Walter nodded.

 

* * *

 

In the living room, the Lone Gunmen had taken over the room. Computers lay everywhere. The three geeks were truly in their element. Byers sat orchestrating the group’s activities, reading from the massive index that came with the suitcase of disks. In moves that seemed choreographed, the three men searched disk after disk. Mulder stood at the doorway smiling at the organized chaos.

Skinner came up behind Mulder and kissed him on the cheek. "Hey. So, gentlemen, what do you have for us so far?" Skinner strolled into the living room.

"A lot." Langly pushed those idiotic heavy-framed glasses back onto his nose. "We even got a file on your pal Krycek. Seems he was born in good old Mother Russia until he was sold by his father."

"What?" Skinner strode over and leaned over the computer. With a few clicks, Langly brought up the file. Nudging Skinner out of the way, he attached a cord from the computer to the TV.

"This will let you see what I’m doing. Anyway, apparently his mother’s dead and his father sold him to the Consortium. See." He tapped one perfectly manicured nail on the computer screen and highlighted a document. "One bill of sale for an eight year old male child from Dimitri Ivanovitch Krycek to one C. G. B. Spender. The price was 100,000 rubles. Payable on delivery. Now on the next page is a copy of a contract between the Consortium and the Agency. Doesn’t say which Agency but we can all guess."

"No, you’re wrong. The Agency is not the CIA. It’s a different Agency. They are actually good guys. This one stays local. There’s one in almost every country in the world. Sometimes the police can’t do something or won’t. Sometimes the State or Federal can’t or won’t. That’s where the Agency comes in. They take them down and out. Like I said, they are the good guys." Mulder said, staring at the screen. Nudging Walter with his hip, he made him sit down on the edge of the couch. Without taking his eyes off the screen, he sat in Walter’s lap.

"They can’t be too good if they are dealing with the Consortium." Frohike replied.

"Well that’s assuming they know what the Consortium is," Walter replied, stroking Fox’s back and turning towards Frohike, "We’ll ask Alex when he’s better."

"Murphy or Camier would be better." Fox murmured.

Byers dropped the index on the table. "Who did you say, Mulder?"

Mulder turned to him. "Murphy or Camier."

"I saw those names, Langly go ahead about a page and half into the contract."

Langly shrugged and scrolled down. Byers kept waving him to slow down. "Stop. Highlight it. Yep. According to this, Mulder, Murphy and Camier were hired to train a suitable assassin for the Consortium. The Consortium would provide the child. The Agency would supply the training with their two best assassins. The Cleaners."

"Makes sense, Fox. Alex was lucky that they got their hands on him rather than anyone else. What else is in there?"

"Well, there are reports signed by ‘M’, ‘C’, and ‘MC’ so I would guess it was by those two... some of it is rather juicy."

"Get out of those files. If I ever find out you used anything out of those files to hurt Alex, I swear, I’ll set Murphy and Camier on you."

"That’s rather cruel, Fox." Walter said, a trace of anger entering his voice.

"So is what they are planning to do with that information. If they left anything of you, we would tear you to bits."

"Geez, calm down, Mulder. It’s not like it’s a big deal." Langly snorted.

Walter slid Fox off his lap and stood up. "No big deal?" Leveling a glare at the three men, the same one that was effective on scores of fresh young FBI agents. "You will not now or ever hurt Alexei. We will allow no one to ever harm him again. While you are useful to us, we’ll find someone else if we need to. Do we need to?"

"Walter, they don’t mind your threats but they would mind if I shot every one of their computers, wouldn’t you?" Fox slipped the ankle gun from its holster. "You have a choice, either you three shut up and do your job or you leave and never see us or this information again."

Behind them came slow and measured claps, "A very good threat Mr. Fox. However, we usually find it more effective to simply give no warning and just shoot them all." The sound of two guns being cocked, split the tense atmosphere.

Murphy and Camier stood there holding shiny, gaudy guns. The guns were silver with gold and brass inlays. The inlays were of small animals that wrapped around the handles, crept vine-like up to the barrels. The line of animals terminated with a large cat that stretched one long unsheathed claw down the barrel.

"What the hell are those?" Frohike stared at the guns in fascination.

"Mr. Murphy, I say we shoot them right now for insulting our gifts." Camier smiled.

Fox burst out laughing. "Let me guess, Alex gave those to you? Once he ‘lost’ my ankle gun and replaced it with a new one. It was purple. I still don’t know where he got a purple gun."

Camier and Murphy smiled as they tried not to laugh. "Oh, he doesn’t specialty order these, he makes them. These two were his first successful attempts. It seems fitting we shoot them with these. Now, we have to divide the three of you up. Since it’s closer to Cam’s birthday, I’ll let him shoot two of you and I’ll take the CIA looking one."

"Thank you, Murphy, you are too kind."

"Can’t any of you just relax? Remember the half dead, no left arm, very tired, and recovering malenkiyubiytsa in here? Hey. Welcome home, papy." Alex sagged against the wall and closed his eyes.

 

* * *

 

"Mr. Mulder, Mr. Skinner, will you take our brat and put him back to bed? We will handle these three." Murphy asked lightly.

"Uhhh sure. Walter?" Fox walked over and kneeling, wrapped one arm around Alex’s waist.

"No. I’m tired of bed, I want my papy." Alex pouted.

"Mr. Mulder, I believe our Sascha is still with fever. Since he no longer wishes to lie abed, I suggest using the elevator at the end of the hall and taking him to the rooftop garden. The pools will do him good. They are cool."

"Very well." Walter stooped down and picked Alex up, "I’ll carry him, Fox."

"Ok." Fox headed off down the hall.

"Papy?"

"Yes, Sascha?" Murphy asked, rolling his eyes where his Sascha couldn’t see it.

"I’m sorry. Never mind." Alex laid his head on Walter’s shoulder.

"No, Sascha. What did you wish to ask?"

"Don’t kill them. Fox wouldn’t like it."

"All right, my Sascha. We won’t kill them. Now go up to the garden. The sun is shining and the waters are cool." Murphy told him quietly.

"Yes, papy." Alex closed his eyes and sighed, snuggling down into Walter’s arms. "You’re very comfortable, did anyone ever tell you that?"

Walter laughed and strolled down the hall, carrying a half asleep Russian rat.

"Now that the children are out of our way, I suggest you three pay close attention. First sit down and listen carefully," Camier’s voice floated down the hall after them. "Well, since Sascha doesn’t want you to die...

 

* * *

 

 

"A garden on the rooftop, Alexei? How did you do that?" Fox asked as he held the elevator door open.

"Fox, Lisa, Vasili... we need to give you a Russian name." Alex mumbled.

"Don’t go to sleep, Alexei... tell us of the garden?" Walter asked, shifting him slightly, stepping into the elevator.

"Well, my first assignment was a test by the Agency. They wanted to see whether or not they could tell the Consortium that my training was complete. It wasn’t. Murphy and Camier didn’t want me to do the job but the Agency’s Director overruled them. She accused them of coddling me and of being overly protective parents. She asked me directly, in front of my fathers, knowing that I had a young man’s pride and would take it. They told me to be careful. I wasn’t. I completed the mission but not without cost. Ummm you can carry me anytime Sergei." Alex nuzzled his nose into Walter’s neck as the elevator stopped.

"So, now that you have Sergei’s warm arms around you, you don’t need me, is that it?"

Alex’s eyes widened and he turned carefully towards Fox, "No... I didn’t mean that, Fox, really I didn’t. I..."

"I was teasing you, Alexei. I won’t do it again. Tell us more?" Fox caressed Alex’s face before taking his hand and rubbing it gently with his thumbs.

Alex moaned and tried to snuggle down further.

"Careful now, I don’t want to drop you." Walter said as he settled Alex in his hands again before stepping out of the elevator. In front of them was a narrow stone covered hall, just wide enough for one person to walk through with perhaps two inches of clearance on each side. Walter looked at Alex in his arms and set him down. "It’s narrow."

"Of course. We don’t want a lot of people coming here. But we can rest here and I’ll walk down the hall. Back to the story of the garden, I completed my mission but I was badly hurt. My Fathers couldn’t stay home with me and they didn’t want me bored. So they installed an elevator so I could go up to the second floor or up here. Back then; this was nothing but a deck. Then over there was another room. On the second floor is my workshop. I build guns, other weapons; throw pots, a lot of things. I was forbidden to leave the house. The one time I did do so without their permission, I was punished. They... doesn’t matter. Soon I became depressed. It affected them, though people at the agency mostly didn’t care or couldn’t tell. A librarian at the Agency left them plans for a rooftop garden. It even showed how to build up a part of the land so you could put in a couple of pools. One day, I woke up to find a note telling me to go up there. They were waiting for me... in the garden." Alex squeezed Fox’s hand and stood up. "As long as you hold me, I should be able to make it."

Fox walked over and stood behind Alex. "As long as we are here, we will never let you fall." Wrapping his arms around Alex’s waist, he started shuffling towards the hall.

Walter walked backwards in front of them. Smiling at them, they walked slowly down the hall. Over Walter’s shoulder, Fox could see light shining at the end of the hall. Moving one hand to shade Alex’s eyes. They walked into the light.

 

* * *

 

 

The ground was carpeted with grass and a small hill was set a little off center, with a pool at it’s center. Around there were benches of stone and potted trees. Bushes grew up and shaded quiet corners. Here and there birds sang. Flowers covered the grass, blue, purple, orange, yellow, red, white, even black. Fox slowly moved Alex over to the nearest bench and sat him down.

"Alexei... this is amazing... how did they get it all up here?" Fox stared around, a sweet smile on his face.

"I don’t know... Nathan never said. I know they did it during a two-day period that I was at the Agency for tests. I asked Nathan once but Nathan is… crazy. He’s convinced that Alex Trebek runs the world. That if anyone goes on vacation, they are going to report to the Illuminati. I love him; he’s like a cousin to me. He’s insane. Sergei, please don’t dig too deep? I know it’s at least a foot of dirt. I did it once and there is an average, not including the hills, of at least twenty inches difference before and after. So there has to be almost eight inches of reinforcement materials so it won’t cave in the house." Alex smiled as Walter walked around, his face tilted up towards the sun, low in the sky. Walter’s hands were dirty where he had dug in the dirt. For the first time in a very long time Walter smiled for the joy of smiling.

"It’s so beautiful, our Alexei. A bright and sunny place for us to talk."

"About what?" Alex leaned back against the brick wall that enclosed the garden, closing his eyes.

"Many things." Walter said quietly.

" ‘Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings...’ " Fox shook his head at Walter rolling his eyes. "Sorry. About Love, Alexei. About how you can love us with all we have done to you and how we can love you with everything you have done to us. What we are to do about us… about the three of us living and loving and not letting each other fall. We’ve failed you plenty of times…we just didn’t know how much until we read your journals. You betrayed us but then you didn’t and you confused us. Part of love is trust and none of us, really trust each other. I know that I can love you, I even want to but I don’t know if I can trust you. Walter betrayed me a couple of times and I want to trust him but if it comes to a showdown, either you or me, I don’t know who he would choose. I have trust issues but then again everyone I’ve cared for lied to me, played games with me. So how do I? How do I love you and Walter, Alexei? How do I trust you two?"

"Easy, Fox, our lisa."

"Lisa?"

"Yes, I did put you in danger. Yes, I did hurt you. Yes, I confused you. Yes, I even lied to you. I did all that and more for one simple reason. As long as you were alive then you had a chance to be happy. I already love you and I knew that if I died, my fathers would have found you two and given you proof that the Consortium heads were dead. Strange… isn’t it? That they were hunting me down and willing to take the information back to the Consortium but they would have done this for me. It would have been my last wish. And now that we are taking the Consortium down, I won’t ever betray you again. If we go back into the FBI or we can even go work for the Agency; I suppose we will sometimes need to appear estranged. Just don’t believe it. I guess it’s a credit to my acting that you believed me to be willing to hurt you." Alex replied, reaching his hand out for Walter, "Sergei?"

"You killed me. You implanted machines into me and you killed me. You held the controller in your hand and you pressed the buttons that killed me. I will never forget that. In time I will forgive you but I can’t forget that. You know that Fox and I read some of your journals, I read the timeframe. Sometimes you lapsed into Russian… but I know it well enough. I could see how you saw this as a way to kill me and bring me back. Cardinal’s bullet would have been more permanent. I suppose I should thank you but I can’t. You looked me in the eye and killed me, Alexei. I saw no love in your eyes. I saw no regret. Only a willingness to kill me because I wasn’t obeying you." Walter sat down and wrapped one arm around Alex. Tucking Alex’s head on his shoulder, he stroked his hair. On the other side, Fox was squeezing Alex’s hand. "Yes, you were trained well but not so well that you could be so ill and still lie to us. I do believe you didn’t know it was us at my office. I do believe what you said. I do believe you love us. I also believe it will be a very long time before we will lay all this to rest. Now stop crying, my shirt is getting all wet." Walter ruffled the longish hair at the back of Alex’s neck.

"Sergei… I… I’m…" Alex wiped his eyes and squeezed Fox’s hand.

"Hush, Alexei. I’ve already started to forgive you. I just need time. Let’s talk about what we have done to you."

"We don’t need to. When I decided to stop running, stop fighting, I made my peace with both of you. So don’t feel guilty, I mean you likely will, but I don’t want you to. You beat me up, shot at me, cursed me, set people to chase me, hunted me, and dragged me everywhere in Mulder’s case. Sergei cuffed me to his balcony and beat the crap out of me. Ummm, Fox, Sergei, we ever go to Russia, I don’t care if an alien is there signing autographs, I’m never going back to Tunguska. Next time they might want a leg." Alex smirked. "Oh stop being so guilty about my arm, Lisa." Alex flashed a smile, "It happened. If you can’t laugh about it then it’s worthless isn’t it. Napoleon once said, ‘I must laugh at Man to avoid crying for him’. I have to laugh at this, otherwise I’ll cry and not stop, Fox. Look the sun is going down, can’t we just sit up here and enjoy the sunset. If you will help me over to the east wall, we have a seat put into the wall so we can watch the sunset." Alex levered himself up.

Walter pulled him into his lap. Placing one hand under Alex’s legs, he lifted Alex into his arms. Following Alex’s instructions, they came upon a set of iron steps that led to a high bench, where they could see over the wall and watch the sunset. First the sun flattened out and became a long strip of red fire. The sky flowed into the bright oranges and crimsons, delicious peaches, honey golds, and shocking purples. As the dark cape of Diana covered the sky that the sun fled, her coat with a thousand sparkling eyes shimmered. A flash of green, the last image of the setting sun sparked and met the clear eyes of Alexei Krycek, happily being held by the two who were learning to love him.

 

* * *

 

"Well I think I can make it if I go sideways." Walter looked at their lanky love.

"It’s not fair to make you carry him back down, Walter." Fox told him.

"But I am bigger and I can carry Alexei easier."

"Well..."

"I can do it, Lisa." Walter reached over and moved Alex until he could get a firm grip on him. "Go ahead, I’ll follow behind."

Fox gave Walter a strange look before heading over to the short hall that led to an elevator. Halfway through the hallway he stopped. Turning, he spread his legs to block the passage, he looked at Walter. "Lisa? Why are you calling me, Lisa? If it’s the hair, I’m getting it cut."

"Fox, it’s not the hair. Can we get moving? I can carry Alexei but he is heavy." _Why now, Fox?_

"Not until you tell me why both of you called me Lisa?" Fox replied, gritting his teeth and pushing his jaw out.

"Fox..."

"Walter..."

"It’s Russian... it’s... it’s your name in Russian."

"So if I went to Russia, I would be called a girl? I know Alexei as well as his fathers want me to pick a Russian name. I know I’m pretty but that pretty? I didn’t think my features were fine enough for a girl." Fox straightened up and leaned again a wall

Walter’s laugh started in his stomach and rumbled up like rapids. "No Fox... I mean you are beautiful but ‘Lisa’ is the name for fox in Russian." Walter set off once more for the elevator. His long strides eating up the distance

"Ahhh, ok. Why did he call me little?" Fox asked a smile on his face, "I mean he hasn’t even seen me yet." Fox stopped and stared at the all but running Walter.

"FOX! Uhhh, I think in his way he was teasing you." Walter’s pace quickened and Fox’s eyes narrowed as he took several steps closer. "You’re our little girl." Walter reached the elevator and ducked in quickly, pressing the button for the bottom floor. Walter smiled as the door closed in Fox’s face.

 

* * *

 

 

Fox stood at the elevator waiting for it to come back up. Shaking his head, he stared up at the stars. _This place is beautiful. The garden is a paradise. Murphy and Camier are excellent. Everything is going well. The Lone Gunmen are taking down the Consortium. So why am I up here wondering when everything will fall apart and we will be left in pieces? Somehow I don’t think that the FBI is in my future._

_I have always been an agent. I don’t know how to be anything else._

 

* * *

 

 

Walter walked down the hall towards Alex’s room. Laying Alex down in his bed, Walter covered him before laying a kiss on his cheek. Quietly he closed the door and walked back towards the elevator. As the door softly shushed open and Fox stepped into his arms, Camier’s voice came down the hall, "Sergei, would you and Fox come down here for a moment? I believe the boys have found something that would be of interest to you."

"Sure, just give me a moment." Fox reached up and dragged Walter’s head down to his, touching foreheads with him and staring into those wonderful dark brown eyes. Walter wrapped an arm around Fox’s waist. "If I’m your little Fox and Alexei is our Rat, what are you?"

"A strong and sturdy dancing bear that will always protect both of you. We protect each other. You with cunning. Alexei with his ability to find a way to survive. Don’t worry. We will survive. Promise. Now let’s go see what the Gunmen found." Walter took his hand and led him down the hall.

In the living room, each man sat with straight backs, eyes front, hands held at the perfect angle for typing. Their voices were hushed and soft. Walter watched as Langley got up and asked with extremely polite words for Byers to ‘please move his legs so that he might retrieve one of the indices on the table by the door’. Walter started clapping softly and smiling wide, he walked further into the room. "Murphy, Camier, what did you with them? They almost sound human."

"Walter Sergei Skinner, we try _for_ positive reinforcement. Suffice it to say that Mr. Byers, Mr. Langley, Mr. Frohike, and we have come to an understanding. They clearly understand the rules and boundaries." Murphy replied, "However the reason we called you here was because of something that we found. Perhaps... Fox can come closer."

Camier headed over to take Fox’s hand. "It’s about your sister, but I will allow them to take their own time." He led Fox over to the couch and sat him down. Walter settled in beside him and watched the screen. Neither noticed Camier leaving.

"Well, Mulder, we did a search for the words ‘Sam’ ‘Samantha’ ‘Mulder’ and every combination of them. We got a bunch of hits but it took time to go through everything. Most of it was about Bill Mulder. We have enough on him to well... first off prove that he’s not your blood father. Unfortunately it does prove that C. G. B Spender is. So lucky you, you have a brother. That has bad news to it too. C. G. B. demanded his death. Krycek killed him fast. I guess knowing that Spender wanted to turn Jeffrey over to be experimented on really bothered him. Krycek did him a favor really. Some of this stuff... Mulder it’s sick! How can they..." Langley lowered his head.

Byers cleared his throat. "We know that she was cloned. We know that. We know they had hers and thousands upon thousands of other’s DNA samples. We know about the colonization attempts but this... even we didn’t know, Mulder. They planned to take over a million cloned children to a planet and there to raise them... as hosts, as slaves, as raw materials. Mulder... Sam was part of a breeding program to make the perfect genetic slave and host."

"I see... there’s more right?" Fox smiled and bit his lip. Suddenly two arms came around him from behind. Fox jumped. Alex nuzzled his neck and walked around the edge of the couch and sat next to Fox. He moved over until Fox was sandwiched tight between him and Walter. Alex laid his head on Fox’s shoulder as Camier came around in front of them and sat on the arm of Murphy’s seat.

"What they are trying to say, dear Fox is, that your sister, Samantha died. She escaped from where they were keeping her while they were transporting her. She fell. It was on a highway on the side of a mountain in Colorado. Interstate 70, so it says. They couldn’t claim the body because they didn’t have anyone in the Climax Police Department, which found her. She is buried in a pauper’s grave. I have taken the liberty to have someone from the agency go and claim her. We will rebury her where you wish. If it is any consolation, both the coroner for the police and the Consortium agree that she didn’t feel any pain. She likely tripped. And when she did so, she knocked her head. It put her to sleep. She felt nothing." Camier looked at the stunned young man. Standing up, he closed the laptop closest to him. "I believe it is time for you gentlemen to leave. You may come back tomorrow after 12 noon. Sascha, you and Sergei take Fox to bed. Keep him warm. If you should need us, you know where to find us."

Murphy stood up, helped them close down their programs, he allowed them to choose which computers they wished to take and gently but firmly escorted the three young men out the door. Camier moved quickly to gather a comforter and an electric blanket to lie on Sascha’s bed. Slowly their muffled steps came closer. Murphy came out of the kitchen with a tray. On it sat three mugs and a teapot full of hot chocolate. Slipping into the room before the other three, he placed it on the night table. Carefully Walter and Alex led Fox in and pushed him onto the bed. So intent were they on taking care of their Fox, neither of them noticed when Murphy and Camier left the room. Undressing him, Alex’s eyes clouded and sparked.

"We are taking them down, right?"

"Yes, Alexei we are and they are going to pay for everything."

Tucking Fox in, they crawled in on either side of him and held him. Trembles started slowly and built up. A low moan started in his throat and climbed higher and higher until he was screaming behind his teeth. After a time, the screams faded into whimpers and transformed into sobs.

 

* * *

 

 

"Cam?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think we should call Nathan in to help the Lone Gunmen?"

"No, I don’t think so."

"Very well. What about dear Fox?"

"We will destroy the Consortium and make sure those who harmed his sister live only long enough to give testimony. Then we take them and have fun."

"Ahh, I’m glad we think alike."

"How can we not, we share the same heart. Now come to bed and stop thinking of that sort of fun."

"Just one more thing, love. Sascha. How does this help Sascha? I know he cares for them, but right now are we even sure they can help? Perhaps we made a mistake. Now that Mulder is having trouble, Sascha has retreated. I talked to Walter and he told me Sascha railed against them when they told him they were going to love him. Now, he accepts it. Could it be that our Sascha is doing another role for them? He will take... no, accept what they will give him but he will be their strength? He’s so used to helping others, supporting others, despite his training as a lone assassin, how many times did we look to him for support in our work?" Camier sat on the bed and leaned into Murphy’s arms.

"I see, so you don’t want us to get so wrapped up in Fox’s problems that we ignore Sascha?"

"No, I’m afraid Sascha will get so wrapped up in Fox’s problem that he will ignore his own. We may see him sinking further and further but he will not allow anyone to help him until he realizes it himself."

"Yes, well, the only thing we can do now is watch our silent son."

"I know. I don’t like it though."

"Sleep, Cam. Tomorrow we try again."

 

* * *

 

 

The smell of sausage drifted down and crawled under the door. The spicy aroma covered the barely asleep young men. Slowly, Alex opened his eyes; clear of the clouds that fever had put in them. He stretched his legs until he heard his joints pop. Turning around in the bed, he met two warm dark brown eyes. Smiling he reached over and gently took Walter’s hand. "So we wake up the sleeping kit and go to breakfast?"

"Yeah... Alex... I..."

"Don’t worry, Sergei, k?" Alex swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Slowly he reached up, on his tiptoes, and then bent over backwards until his hand touched the bed. He arched his back until he could hear the vertebra popping.

Walter looked over at him and shook his head. Together, they went into the bathroom. Alex moved closer to the sink and picked up his toothbrush. Reaching for the mouthwash, he looked into the mirror and saw Walter staring back at him. Without moving his eyes, Walter reached around him for a blue toothbrush.

Slowly, he put the toothpaste on and started brushing his teeth without taking his eyes from the mirror, from Alex’s reflected jade gaze. He spit the foam into the sink, eyes still locked. Wiping his mouth, he leaned over and kissed Alex on the cheek. "I’ll go wake, Fox."

Alex finished brushing his teeth and splashed his face with water, shaking his head to get rid of the excess water. Walter had Fox on his feet and walking towards the bathroom. He would place a hand in the air to turn Fox. He always turned away from the hand. Alex smiled and got out of his way. As Fox passed, Alex reached out and touched his hand. Mulder jerked away and hit the wall. Alex shook his head and went to get dressed.

 

* * *

 

Alex watched as Walter walked Mulder into the dining room. Murphy was making stacks of pancakes. The table was set with simple white stoneware. Shrugging at Alex’s questioning expression, Walter shrugged and sat Fox down. Walter walked over and made up three plates. "Alexei, do you like a lot of sausage or eggs?"

"Sausage." Alex walked over and took one of the patties off the griddle.

"Sascha, drop the sausage." Camier commanded without turning around.

"He always tries to steal at least one, Sergei. No one will ever call him a rabbit, he loves meat. Sit down both of you and I’ll bring your plates."

"Are you sure?" Walter asked.

"Yes, we are." Murphy said as he opened the refrigerator. He pulled out a jug of milk and placed it on the table, did the same with the orange juice, before closing the refrigerator. Reaching up, he pulled down a glass-stoppered pitcher of thick maple syrup. After laying that on the table, he stopped by the stove and picked up a platter of sausage and eggs. "We’ve already made up your plates, eat those first, ok Sascha?"

"Yes, papy." Alex smiled at their normal, natural tone. _For once within the past few days, everything is normal. Except for Fox’s silence. I am not going to worry about that. I’m going to enjoy this._ Alex watched as his fathers chatted with Sergei, the ebb and flow of a family at breakfast. It was good and calm. Anyone seeing this would think us a really happy family. Maybe this will work. Maybe they can love me.

Fox reached for a sausage and dropped it, laying down his fork, Alex reached over and handed it to him. Fox flinched back and dropped it.

"Pick it up, Fox."

"Alexei, maybe he doesn’t..." Walter started.

"Shut up, Walter. Pick it up, Fox. I’m truly and really god bedamned tired of your self-pitying shit. So your sister was stolen, so your father didn’t love you, so god dammit the Consortium ran you on a leash and ruined your fucking life. My father **SOLD** me because he liked rubles more than he liked throwing me into a wall. I was raised to be a consortium spy, assassin, and tool. To be used and abused and discarded. They at least thought of you as a person but I was just a thing! So get off it, you suffered but so did a lot of people. Most of them aren’t even alive. They aren’t staying in a nice three-story house that’s a refuge and paradise. I did things you didn’t have to. I had to stay with your cigarette smoking fucking bastard of a father, MULDER and I hate him. I killed him, and I’m so damn glad."

Eyes gleaming with pent up hatred Alex leaned over the table and spat his words into Fox’s face, "I hate this life, I was ready to die! But no, you had to bring me back, you had to apologize, you had to make up for everything. Well damn you but I didn’t want to come back. I’m so tired. I want to sleep." Alex fell back into his chair. "I’m tired. I wanted to die, to sleep. To be at peace. Maybe death isn’t peace but it isn’t here either.

"Why couldn’t you let me go? Why didn’t you let me go?" Alex leaned back, closing his eyes, tears falling gently. Suddenly strong arms came around him and he heard Walter’s voice.

"Shhh, cry it out, Alexei, Sascha, our Alex."

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

"Is there any more sausage left, Cam?" Murphy asked.

"I believe so." Camier stood up and got the extra sausage from the griddle.

Mulder faced them, eyes wide. "Alexei just... blew up and you want to know if there is more sausage? What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Camier walked over to the table and slapped Fox. "Mr. Mulder, I know it seems strange to you. However, we, not you, raised Sascha and we know that this is a natural thing for him. Sit down and be quiet."

Fox sat down, raising a hand to his hot cheek. Shaking his head and taking a deep breath, he just sat still. When he raised his eyes to see Walter staring at him with wide eyes. Something cool touched his cheek and he flinched. Murphy gave him a tight smile and placed the cold cloth against the handprint. "Fox, dear Fox. We are all under pressure. Us maybe more than you two. Knowing as we do that Sascha has been hurt and tested and run around by the Consortium. He has been hunted and led and lunged on lead, by those men. I won’t apologize for Camier’s action, nor will he. We had to stand by and watch. They never missed an opportunity to remind us and him that he was an assignment, that the only reason we raised him was the contract. It wasn’t. We love Sascha. They have finally pushed him too far.

"So many times, Sascha has been a bedrock, a supporter. He supported you even when you didn’t know it. He fought for you, he fought for Sergei. He fought for us at times. It’s in his nature. However to continue to support someone who continues to fight you, to beat on you... after his blood father, do you think he desires this?! Once in eighth grade, some young thug thought that our little Sascha was an easy mark. He’s always been rather fey. The parents of the boy insisted we pay for his medical bills. Two bones broken in one leg, three in one arm, and a cracked collarbone. So now what... just what could impel our Sascha to submit and accept both of you beating on him?

"Love... and he will run himself ragged for those he loves. That includes you two and us, Nathan, even the Director, Dobrinksy; even he denies it. And perhaps one friend from school, Michael. That’s it." Murphy stood up and left Fox holding the cool cloth pressed to his cheek. He picked up some of the dishes. The pancakes, eggs, and sausage went into a warming tray.

"Fox," Camier said, his voice sounding tired, "we have to be strong for him. For once, stop thinking about what they did to you; he was forced into doing things to you. Some of the things he did, he would come home and cry about. He did them, because the alternate was a visit from Cardinale. So now we are here to heal him, not to ask him to heal us. Part of that is giving him an extremely stable home life. You and Sergei wouldn’t know stable if it smacked you! So it falls to us. It falls to us to be stable, to be Home for him. We have to be simply like rocks. So that means stop trying to get reactions from us. You got it. Now stop it. Go to the bathroom and wipe your face. Come back, sit down and we will try breakfast again. Go."

Camier took another cloth and wiped Sascha’s face. Sergei stared at them and levered Alexei up. With a tight face, he left Alexei in their arms and went looking for Mulder

 

* * *

 

 

He found Fox staring into a mirror over the sink, in the nearest bathroom. Fox was sniffling and wiping his face with a wet towel. Taking a deep breath, he rubbed red rimmed eyes and looked up. Seeing Walter behind him, he turned and put on small forced smile.

"S- Walter, hey, I was just on my way back." Fox’s voice has the husky quality of someone who just finished crying.

Walter reached out and wrapped his arms around his shoulder. "Fox, if you want to cry..."

"No, Walter, it’s ok."

"Sergei, I’m going stay ‘Sergei’ to you. And I don’t know why they seem to pick on you. I think maybe... they don’t want to lose their boy."

"Yeah, I don’t really doubt that but they were right about one thing. I shouldn’t have yelled at them. They were handling Alexei right. If they pay no attention to his outburst, then later talk to him, they will become less likely. I know that it’s been building up, I’ve been waiting for it. Wal-Sergei, I’m a psychologist. I know better. Yet, when he broke down, I acted... like..."

"A man in love? A man who worried about the man who he has wronged and finally has a chance to make things right? You are." Walter kissed him on the nose. "How’s your cheek?"

"Better. How’s Alexei?" Fox leaned back against the sink and pulled Sergei with him. Stroking his back, Fox kissed the shiny bald pate. "Sergei?"

"Hmmm?"

"What do you think of the name Antonii?"

"I think it’s beautiful, Antonii. Like you. Ready to go back?" Sergei stood up and wrapped one hand around Fox’s neck. "I think I like this learning to love both of you."

"Good." Alexei said from behind them. Both men jumped and turned, "Sorry about them slapping you, Fox. They take direct action whenever they can and damn the consequences." Alexei reached up and gently ran his fingertips over the reddened outline of Camier’s hand. His green eyes grew shiny for a second and then his hand fell.

Fox took Alexei’s hand and raised it to his cheek again, "Hey they protect you, they are your fathers and they just want to protect you."

"But they aren’t supposed to protect me from you and Sergei."

"Yes, they are. They will but they jump the gun a bit at times. Now, isn’t it time for breakfast?

"Yeah." Alexei nudged Sergei with his shoulder and took Fox’s hand. Together the three men walked back to the kitchen to eat their breakfast.

 

* * *

 

 

Alexei felt Fox’s long fingers running through his hair. It was almost enough to put him back to sleep but he struggled to sit up. Fox, realizing what Alexei wanted, carefully sat him up. Rubbing his eyes, Alexei noticed that there were a lot more people then there had been when he had laid down after breakfast. Yawning, he stretched and flexed before looking around.

"Glad you are up, Sascha. You can start helping us. Fox the red binder there, the one that says NKJ 1, give that to Sascha. You can read each chapter in there and summarize this... at this rate we should be done in about... three years." Camier gave his son a tight smile and went back to reading.

"Great, where did all this stuff come from?" Alexei asked, looking the binders covering every surface.

Byers flicked his eyes up to Alexei’s and gave him a flash of a grin, "We don’t know. About an hour after we got here, some guy, twitches a lot, came to the door. He had about twenty large guys come in carrying boxes. It took them and us about two and half hours to unload them and this is what was in them."

"Ahh, the Agency. Still is a lot of work." Alexei replied cracking his neck, taking the binder and opening it on his lap.

"Yes, so next time we go there, plan on spending a lot of money buying them food. They deserve it. Unfortunately we can’t borrow them to help us go through all of this... we do really need about a hundred more people. If we had them then we could speed this up and it would only take around four to five weeks." Murphy replied.

In silence, the eight men read until the light from outside began to redden. Rubbing his eyes, Sergei leaned back. "People, this can not go on. If this was something bureau related, I would have asked Kim to pull together at least 150 people. She would have posted the position and done the preliminary interviews forwarding only the top 150 and keeping 50 in reserve. Murphy, you said we really need at least another hundred people, so my question is why not get them?"

"Because where would we find them, Sergei?" Camier put the volume he had been looking through down.

"Well, the Gunmen have a site and connections to numerous conspiracy buffs, can the Agency provide us with a safe house for that many people? And if no one objects, let’s bring Kim in on this... she does well with my other postings, why not this one?"

Camier looked at Murphy who looked at Camier. Shaking their heads ruefully, they stared at Sergei. Fox laughed and tossed Sergei the cordless phone. Alexei smiled, his eyes shining with pride at his Sergei’s thinking. Alexei leaned over and kissed Sergei’s cheek. "I knew I loved you for more than your buff good looks."

Sergei blushed and dialed Kim’s home number.

 

* * *

 

Kim covered her eyes with her hands and took a deep breath. "Ok, Sir. Let me see if I have this right. About 50 or so years ago a group of men called the Consortium undertook an arrangement with oil type aliens who inhabit the so-called Roswell Grays. Now part of the oil type are rebelling and fighting the Grays who are themselves on the run from their home planet from which they were exiled. The whole point is the colonization of Earth. Now the Consortium is falling into pieces because Krycek, the same Krycek who is on the run from the FBI and every single government agency, stole materials from the Consortium which proves their intent to allow aliens to colonize the Earth."

"That's it, Kim. What we need you to do is interview some conspiracy nuts, tell us which are the most useful, then we will sequester them for about six weeks in a safe house, while they help us read and summarize the files." Walter gently moved her hands from her eyes, "Will you do it?"

"Have I ever let you down? We need to find the most compelling information because you will have to prove it to them and they will need to see how dangerous this really is before they get too deep into it. And we don't want the freaks." Kim reached down to the briefcase beside her and pulled out a yellow legal pad. Taking notes, she started to list the most obvious, to her, qualifications. The eight men just stared at her with amazement. "Boys, instead of watching me, why don't you bunch write up an ad. I'll check it before you post it to your website."

Still, they stared. "Boys. MOVE!" Shaking her head, she sighed. _When you need real help call a woman._ "So when is Scully coming in?"

"She's not, Kim." Alex stared at her, "She has something else to live for, you'll find out in little under a year. But not now."

Kim stared into the jade green eyes for a moment before nodding. "Very well. However, Mr. Skinner, you will need to come up with a reason for my request for Mr. Kersh. This is too extensive for me to do in my off time. I can take my sick time and vacation time but that will only give us about five weeks... It will take us at least four weeks to get through the chaff and pick out the people we want. Then we need to set up in a secure location. Then we will let them read the files. Mr. Murphy and Mr. Camier, can you provide the safe house and if I give you the requirements can you find adequate work spaces?"

"Of course, Ms. Kim."

"Good, then we can do this yet."

 

* * *

 

 

Ad as it reads of the Lone Gunmen's Website:

 

> Are there aliens among us?
> 
> Have they manipulated our lives?
> 
> Have they come to conquer
> 
> and colonize?
> 
> YOU BET!
> 
> For the next four weeks, we are taking applications for people who are willing to help us collect and collate proof. Actual proof of the Aliens' plans. Submit your application on line to:
> 
> [Conspiracy@lg.net](mailto:Conspiracy@lg.net) or [AliensAbductedme@lg.net](mailto:AliensAbductedme@lg.net)

 

* * *

 

 

Kim looked it over and nodded. "Since you three rent out email boxes no one will be able to trace this to us, right?" At their nods, she handed the laptop back to them. "Very well, now we need to set up interviews. Murphy, Camier, their first interview will be with one of you and we will be using networked computers. I want the Lone Gunmen to set it up. Back to the interviews. First ones with Murphy and Camier, just a general let us know about you, why do you want to help, that sort of thing. However, this will be a first cut. Anyone, who is to be accepted, simply fill in a form, that the boys will put on the computers. Simply fill it out and send to the next tier. That will be the LGs themselves. You will have a longer interview with them and decide whether they do really believe this, or are they just doing this for fun. This is second cut. Same process and send the form to the third tier. Where Agent Mulder and AD Skinner will interview them. I take it that we don't want it known that Krycek is alive still so he won't be in any of the interviews, but is there a way he can still look in on the interviews? I take it that you trust his judgment so I would like a way for him to tell any of us that he wants someone to be sent away. I will take people in for processing and that's where your Agency comes in. They will need to provide a place similar to a decommissioned armed forces base or a survival camp. The barracks will give our workers a sense of camaraderie, a sense of group belonging. They will take pride in taking down the conspiracy. Even if they have to join the hated establishment to do so."

Camier smiled and raised his hand. Kim shook her head and pointed at him. "This is very well thought out, I can see why Sergei chose you to be his assistant. One question. You are part of a paramilitary sanctioned federal force. Perhaps you are somewhat biased towards order. Now, no offense to our technological friends but I do not see them or those who are like them being willing to be subject to any regimented purpose. Why do you think they would?"

"Simple, no offense but they want... desire... need to be proven right! It is the only way for their TRUTH to be proven, the only way for they, themselves to learn the truth. In their own way they are as fanatic as Agent Mulder to find the Truth and we will give it to them, we will recognize their fight. For that they would join the Nazis." Kim stood up and shook her head, "Let's get started."

 

* * *

 

Fox, or Antonii as he decided to be called, watched as Alexei struggled to get out of his shirt. Walking up behind Alexei, he stopped him and reached around Alexei. Unbuttoning the shirt, he gently slipped it off. Dropping it to the floor, he laid his head on Alexei’s good shoulder and hugged him. "Can three fit in that shower, if they are friendly and don’t try to play around?"

Alexei stiffened and relaxed. "If they don’t play around too much, they should be able to take a good shower together."

"Good, go start it and I’ll see what’s holding up Sergei, k?" Antonii whispered in his ear. "Oh just one thing?"

"Yes, Antonii?" Alex turned his head and smiled.

"Why did they want me to pick out a Russian name?" Fox asked as he opened the door.

"I would have thought you would have figured it out by now, Antonii. You need a Russian for Russian class." Alexei walked into the bathroom, leaving a shocked Antonii behind him. Soon, Fox could hear the water of the shower starting...

 

* * *

 

 

Fox grumbled about a certain assassin’s need to never answer a question clearly. So caught up in his mutterings, he didn’t notice their Sergei standing in front of him until Sergei stopped him. "Where’s Alexei?"

"Starting the shower. It’s big enough for three and we do need a shower." Fox purred as he wrapped one hand over Sergei’s waist.

"Antonii... a shower with all three of us? Isn’t it a bit early to try that? He is more relaxed with us but he is still, understandably wary of us." Sergei ran his thumb over Mulder’s lips.

"Hey, who is the psychologist here?" Mulder turned his head into Sergei’s hand.

"You."

"Right, I won’t push him farther than he can go. However I am going to get him used to idea that we should be naked together. Tonight is just a shower. We will wash him and he’ll wash us but that’s it. Let’s go before he’s done." Antonii reached up and took Sergei’s hand. Quickly, Antonii lead him into the bathroom.

 

* * *

 

 

Alexei leaned back and let the hot water cascade down his back, as it crawled down his smooth back it massaged with a thousand careless fingers. The heat seeped through the skin and into his bones. For some reason his scar was hurting badly. Leaning gently to the side, he let the water flow down. Warming and loosening tense muscles. The gentle clatter of the shower rings made him snap out of the lull that the shower put him in.

"Damn. If I knew you were this beautiful Alexei, I would have gone after you earlier." Antonii said as he stepped inside the shower, in front of Alexei.

"Foxxx..."

"What Sergei? As if you wouldn’t have if you could." Fox smirked and wrapped his arm around Alexei’s waist, "Climb in, you’re letting the heat out. Will you wash Alexei’s back?" Sergei soaped up the washcloth and carefully started to scrub in circles on Alexei’s back.

Alexei tensed up as Sergei scrubbed his back. Antonii gently used the arm around his waist to turn him as Sergei carefully washed him. Sergei’s fingers traced the small scars caused by his many escapes, adventures, and the many made by Dimitri Ivanovitch Krycek. The fingers slowed and Sergei leaned his head on Alexei's shoulder. His breath came slow and caressed the side of Alexei’s neck. A slight pressure on his hip caused Alexei to turn to face Fox with Sergei hugging his back. A soapy washcloth brushed Alexei’s shoulder as Sergei passed the cloth to Mulder. Mulder tilted his Alexei’s face up and placed one hand on the back of Alexei’s neck and rubbed. Lifting the washcloth, Mulder caressed soapy circles around Alexei’s nipples. The slippery cloth caressed the too thin ribs and up the too flat stomach. A whimper crawled out of Mulder’s throat as he surveyed the damage Alexei had done to himself. Kneeling, he soaped the skinny legs, pressing a little harder, massaging them. Lifting one foot, Mulder firmly washed it, pressing harder on the toes and the ball of the foot. Silently he lowered it and picked up the other, doing the same. Soaping up the other leg, he grinned as he stared up into the jade dark green eyes. Ignoring Alexei's groin, Antonii finished up his front. The only place left was Alexei's left shoulder. The shoulder of the missing arm. The shoulder that was hurting Alexei earlier. The shoulder that caused the pain that Alexei thought he could hide from the two who wanted to love him. Antonii leaned down and dropped a kiss on the shoulder. Leaning back, he let Sergei kiss it as well.

"Alexei, we are learning how to love you. All of you. The missing arm is still a part of you. To you... the... what should I call it? The end of your arm is still a part of you. We don’t hate it... I hate how it happened. I hate the pain you went through. I hate the fact that it was my stupidity that got you in that position. But we can’t hate it." Antonii stepped back and used the washcloth to quickly wash himself before tossing it over Alexei’s head to Sergei. "Do you need to wash your hair?"

"Not right now. I wash it twice a week, never gets too greasy." Alexei murmured.

"K." Sergei shut off the water and the three men stepped out. Grabbing a towel to dry off and tossing an extra towel to Sergei, Antonii went to get some pajama bottoms. Walking back in, he took the towel Sergei handed him and passed out pjs to everyone. To Sergei he gave midnight blue bottoms covered with stars and moons. For himself he took a pair of tan with red and gold leaves on it. To Alexei they gave a forest green set, top and bottoms with small black cats on it. One on each side of him, Alexei was led to the bed.

"Umm, are we all going to fit in there?"

"Of course, Alexei. We have been sleeping with you since we got here and I don’t think we can sleep apart. Just sleep and maybe holding you. That’s it. Ok?"

"Ok." Alexei moved to get in the bed only to have Antonii stop him. Silently Antonii slid in the bed and held the covers open for Alexei. Alexei slid in next to him and Antonii lay one arm over his ribs. Sergei slipped into bed, flicking off the lights; he turned to face Alexei and laying one arm across him and Antonii. When the slow deep breaths of the two men indicated they were asleep, Alexei Sascha Krycek let go and cried.

 

* * *

 

Mulder handed the plate of sausage to Alex with a raised eyebrow. Alex had way too little on his plate. It was important to Walter and Mulder that he ate more. When Alex placed the plate back in the center of the table, Mulder nodded to Walter who, using a sterling silver fork, speared three of the larger sausage patties and put them on Alex's plate. Alex looked at him and sighed. Picking up a sausage, he dragged it through the syrup and bit off a piece.

"I’m not wasting away, you know." Alex said flatly.

"I know, but let’s keep it that way, ok Alexei?" Mulder replied as he picked up the jug of milk and refilled Alex's glass.

Alex sighed and shook his head. _Ok this is getting bad. Next thing I know, they won’t let me take a shower because they’ll think I’ll slip._

Alex watched the two men he loved communicate without sound. In perfect harmony they continued to keep Alex's plate and glass full. Without thinking about it, Mulder cut up four pancakes and placed them on his plate. Walter broke up the shredded potatoes, buttered and cut his toast. No little amused by this as well as touched; Alex leaned back to watch his family.

"Sascha, finish your breakfast." Camier tapped his fork on Alex's plate.

"I would, papy, except how can I ever finish my plate when the minute I eat half of it, these two put more food on it. I know I’m a little thin..."Alex held up one finger for quiet when Mulder opened his mouth. "Hush! I can’t put on fifty pounds in one meal though. I’m almost full."

"Ok, Alexei," Walter reached over and brushed the longish hair back from Alex's face. "But you are too thin. You were running too hard, too fast, too much and it’s taken its toll on you. We can not only count your ribs, I’m positive that last night, in the shower, I could feel where you cracked them. We did wrong by you. You and I did wrong by Fox. Fox did wrong by us. Now, we are doing the right thing. Part of that is feeding you. I want to know that when I am in bed at night and I hold you and hug you, that I won’t hurt you. I need to know that you won’t crack a rib when I squeeze you. So do this for us. Eat two more pancakes and the rest of the sausage and we won’t try to feed you until lunch, k?"

"Yes, Sergei. Kvochki." Alex muttered.

"I heard that, Alexei."

Murphy and Camier smirked at the three men. Letting go of a short laugh, Camier turned smiling at the three young men, "Boys, boys. Now, we heard Sergei call Fox, Antonii. I take it he has chosen this name, so from now on, we shall call him Anton. Save for Sergei, you each have a very personal variant of your Russian names. So now we are ready to start your Russian classes, Anton. Sergei, I understand you learned Russian from your grandparents on your mother’s side. Well then, this class will be a refresher course for you. Sascha, we would appreciate it if you sat in on the classes to help us with your mates. Now, knowing Anton is curious about why we had you pick Russian names, I have one question for you? What did you plan to do after you expose the Consortium?"

Mulder jerked his head up from his plate, swallowing a piece of pancake. "I’m... not really sure. I guess go back to being an agent or maybe... write about the consortium."

Camier shook his head in disbelief and a soft whine exited his throat as he looked at his mate, Murphy. Murphy rolled his eyes and lifted an eyebrow as he silently asked his son Sascha how the hell did he pick ‘that male’ to fall in love with. Beside him, Walter silently and with exaggerated care put the glass of milk he was drinking back on the table before lowering his head into his hands. Alex shuddered and turned his face up to the ceiling.

"Guess not, huh?"

Murphy wiped his lips with his napkin and returned it to his lap. "Anton, it is more likely that you will be killed for speaking out against them or they will let you talk and talk and talk until no one listens anymore, and then kill you. We have another choice for you and I believe that your men will agree with us.

"The Agency has many independent offices. We all come under the Head’s leadership. Under him are the Directors, one for each area. Our Director and Moscow’s are... friends or the closest things to friends that they have, it should come as no surprise that the Consortium flourished not in Russia but in the United States, where freedom of press and knowledge abound. Or so a person would think, but it is an old tactic that they used. However, it is a tactic that we learned, a person who says they have nothing to hide, that everything is open for scrutiny, is really hiding something. People expect to find a little corruption, so when they do; they think it is all there. They never believe there can be more; they would never believe there could be anything so large, on such a grand scale in such a free society. So they refuse to believe the truth for surely if it was that big, someone would have found it before. Humans never like to admit someone knows more than they. Therefore to hide you, we will place you in the one place they would never look for you. The only place where people know and accept the sheer amount of tampering by the Consortium. So, we have decided to send you to Russia where you can hide. But you will need to learn Russian."

"Oh, so when do we start?"

Camier stood up, "As soon as we clear the table."

 

* * *

 

 

Kim stared at the number of applicants in shock. "OK boys, revision. We either break into the FBI database to check some of these characters out first or we will have to so this all by sneaking around the web. We'll never even get to the interviews."

We can’t touch the FBI database... if we do we may lead them here and they still want Krycek and where as I really don’t care if they come after him but Mulder and Skinner do..." One of them tossed his long lank hair over his shoulder.

"Mr... Langley? Well, whether you approve of Alex or not is none of my business. However how you refer to him in my presence is and I will not have you talking about him in that manner. I read the reports. I read what was done to him. I read everything and all I can say is that I’m amazed that he’s as well mentally as he is. So from now on, you will address him with respect. And before you think I’ll run off and tell Skinner or Mulder, remember this, I ran Skinner’s office for years. Mulder was afraid of me. Now about the first ten applicants what do you know about them?"

Langley looked at the other two and turned to review the first applicants.

 

* * *

 

 

The boys sat around the dinner table, waiting for Murphy and Camier. Impatiently Mulder drums his hands on the table.

"You will drive me sumasshedshii , if you don’t stop that. Here." Alex stretches across the table and drags a stack of thick cards over. Picking up one, he shows Mulder the dog, "Gafh. Dog, Gafh."

Mulder moved the stack closer, quickly flipping through he looked at Alex, "Flash cards?"

"Yes, they are good for ummm new learners. Plus, children do better when they can see what it is they are talking about." Alex snatched the cards out of Mulder’s hand. Smiling he flipped through the cards looking for a particular card. Grinning he held up a card. On it was a realistic red fox with green eyes and a pert upturned face. His white tip waved in front of his face, like a fan before his face. The word on the card was ‘lisa’. Laughing he tossed the card to Walter. Mulder leaned his long body over and tilted the card so he could see it.

"Very funny, Rat." Fox dropped the card he was playing with on the table. "Krysa seems very similar to Krycek..."

"Ouch. Well Foxes eat Rats, so can I take it that someday you’ll eat me?"

"With pleasure." Mulder shifted over and kissed his Alexei. "You’ll be sweet."

The sound of Murphy and Camier clearing their throats made the two look up. A quelling look from the two of them got Mulder and Alex to settle down. "Well, I see you found your name cards. Hand me the cards, Sergei." Murphy held out his hand as he and Camier sat down.

"Now, ‘Lisa’ is for Anton" Camier pointed at the card in front of Mulder.

"and ‘Krysa’ is for Alexei" Murphy tapped the card showing a large rat standing on its hind legs and wearing a leather jacket in front of Alex.

"And ‘Medved’ for Sergei." At this Camier gave Sergei a tight smile and tossed him a card with a dancing bear in a tutu, the proper name had been scratched out and the word Sergei written under it. "Now let us settle down for your first Russian lesson. There are thirty-three letters in the Cyrillic...

 


End file.
